As wireless networks evolve and grow, there are ongoing challenges in providing high-quality service to increasing numbers of wireless devices or user equipment (UE) in various coverage areas of a wireless network. One approach to improving service quality and coverage is to designate a wireless device as a relay node or relay wireless device for relaying communication between a base station or access node (donor access node), and an end-user wireless device. Relay wireless devices and may be implemented at the edge of a coverage area of an access node to improve coverage and/or service, as well as in crowded areas having a high number of other wireless devices to increase the available throughput to the end-user wireless devices being relayed. However, such relays may give rise to latency issues and other delay issues due to the additional step of relaying communication from access node to end-user wireless device. A scheduler that considers service requirements, such as latency, for particular types of data with particular service requirements may enhance the service provided to the end-user of the system.
Overview
Exemplary embodiments described herein include systems, methods, and nodes for configuring a scheduler. Backhaul data may be communicated between an access node and a relay wireless device, wherein the relay wireless device serves as backhaul for a plurality of end-user wireless devices and a set of the plurality of the end-user wireless devices comprise a quality of service metric that meets a quality of service criteria. Wireless resources may be scheduled for the relay wireless device using semi-persistent scheduling such that wireless resources are pre-allocated for the relay wireless device based on a periodicity. And data may be transmitted according to the semi-persistent scheduling from the access node to the relay wireless device based on the periodicity, wherein data for the set of end-user wireless devices that is received at the access node between transmissions for the semi-persistent scheduling is queued such that it is transmitted to the relay wireless device at a next transmission for the semi-persistent scheduling.